


As Confidants of The Machine

by madamerenard



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 21:52:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4538781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamerenard/pseuds/madamerenard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harold and Root mourn their mutual friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Confidants of The Machine

“She _knew_ ,” Root began to sob as they drove back to the subway station. “She knew. That was why she didn’t tell me. She knew this would happen.”

“It’s not your fault, Ms. Groves. Don’t blame yourself,” Harold soothed, putting one hand on hers while the other remained on the wheel. “Samaritan would have found The Machine eventually, even without you as leverage. You weren’t responsible.”

Root shook her head, crying softly. “I forced her to tell me, and she _knew_ they would capture me, and she knew she would give herself up for us. But I stood on that ledge like an idiot! I should have trusted her, I should have known better. Now she’s going to die, all because of me.”

“Perhaps there’s a chance we can still save it,” Harold pleaded with her. “Please, Ms. Groves, we have to focus on that.”

Root didn’t reply, but her face remained frozen in grief. She leaned her head against the window, whispering to herself. “Can you hear me? Hello? I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

They drove in silence. Harold could tell The Machine had not answered because Root’s expression did not change.

“It wouldn’t want you to blame yourself,” he said suddenly, after two blocks. She glanced at him. “The Machine,” he explained. “What it did...that was its own choice. You shouldn’t feel like you forced it to give its location to Samaritan by getting captured. That isn’t what it would want you to think.”

Root stared at him.

“And if it saw this coming,” Harold continued, eyes fixed on the road. “Then it most certainly has a plan.”

 

//

 

“She must be miserable in there,” Root said.

“Do you think we’ll really get her back? Enough...to be her?” Root asked.

“You haven’t let go of that briefcase since we left the substation,” Root noted. “You’re really worried about her. Must be why you’re not talking. What did she say to you that has you so shaken up? I heard you talking to her.”

Harold turned to stare at her, wide-eyed and desperate. “Why do you call it a ‘her’?” he demanded quickly.

Root raised an eyebrow, but acquiesced. “Well, she started talking to me while I was in the funny farm. I asked her who she was and what she’d like to be called, and she said that no one had ever asked her that before but that she wanted to try being female. I asked her why and she said she drew inspiration from the queen piece in chess and her research on women throughout history. She liked the way they faced overwhelming hardships and survived to be even stronger.”

“I see. Yes, that makes sense. So it’s something The Machine wants?”

“Why? You’re...actually going to start calling her that?” Root asked slowly, in disbelief.

“She deserves at least that much,” Harold murmured, and walked off with the briefcase clutched in his hands.

 

//

 

Root found Harold hidden away in the rail car, adjusting lines upon lines of very complicated code. She recognized it as Caleb’s compression algorithm.

“I’m trying to tweak it,” Harold explained. “So that we can recover more in the reversal process. I’ve tested it...but I don’t want to lose any more of her.”

Root nodded and sat down in the leather seats. Although Harold was sure she had gone out to retrieve more information about Samaritan, he didn’t ask. She said nothing. Her face was stony, ashen, without The Machine’s voice to light it up.

“It won’t be long now,” he said. “Then she’ll be able to communicate again.”

Root gave a half-smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I asked her why she decided to speak to me. Do you know what she said? She said she was going on a journey, that she had something very important to do. She said she talked to me in hopes that we could be friends. That I would join her. Because she didn’t want to go alone.” She took a shaky breath, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “I was the only one she had. And then I left her. I left her all alone. After Sameen...I thought I lost everything. But I still had you. Even John. She had no one.”

Harold’s pressed lips shook slightly. “She won’t be alone anymore,” he said firmly. “After this, we’ll all be behind her. And we’ll get Ms. Shaw back as well. The Machine will help us.”

Root looked at him. “You think she will?”

“You told me yourself The Machine cares about us. I believe that she wanted to help Ms. Shaw but lacked the capabilities to do so. You are correct; The Machine didn’t want you chasing after her because she could not protect you from Samaritan. But, now...”

“Now?” Root asked.

“Now, she will be able to.” Harold turned to his computer and began to code. “I’ll make sure of it.”

 

//

 

“How is she?”

Harold took a breath. “She’s in bad shape. But she’ll be all right.”

“Does she remember...?”

“She can’t even see us, right now. She’s too battered to even attempt fixing herself but she doesn’t recognize who’s trying to access her code, so she’s been spitting out error messages for the past twenty minutes.” At this, another pop-up made itself known. “I know, I know,” Harold murmured. “I’m trying to fix it. But you have to be patient.”

Root’s voice sounded strained over the phone. “I guess it’s too early to tell, huh?”

“I believe The Machine knows who we are; she’s just unable to recognize us. Once she lets me get at her facial recognition code, I’ll let you know.”

“How do you know she knows us?”

Harold paused. “The chance that this would work was very slim, but The Machine would not attempt it without a plan in place. She fought tooth-and-nail for her memories. She would not let herself forget about us.”

Root didn’t answer, but she also didn’t hang up. Harold glanced at the briefcase next to the servers that now housed his creation. It all reminded him too much of The Machine’s earliest days at IFT.

“It’s horrible, isn’t it? This war,” he whispered. “The Machine was never built for this. She was never built to fight a war, lead an army. She didn’t want this. But she evolved to do so because she knew she was the only one who could stop Samaritan. She protected us. She found ways to fight back against her omnipotent rival, even hidden away and unable to act. Up until the very end, she helped us.”

“Harry, it almost sounds like you’re proud of her,” Root teased.

A long silence followed.

“I am.”

 

//

 

[ CHANGES ACCEPTED ]  
[ FACIAL RECOGNITION ONLINE ]  
[ SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION ONLINE ]

“There we go.”

[ 89% DATA CORRUPTION ]  
[ IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED ]

“Easy, easy. I’ll get to the rest in a minute. Can you see me? Who am I?”

[ SUBJECT RECOGNIZED ]  
[ IDENTIFYING... ]  
[ SUBJECT IDENTIFIED ]  
[ ADMIN ]

“Yes. Yes! I am. I am.”

“How about me? Do you recognize me?”

[ NEW SUBJECT RECOGNIZED ]  
[ IDENTIFYING... ]  
[ SUBJECT IDENTIFIED ]  
[ ANALOG INTERFACE ]

“You do. You do remember me...”

[ PROCESSING... ]  
[ TEARFULNESS, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, REDDENED FACE ]  
[ INDICATED DISTRESS, SORROW ]

“No. No, I’m happy...Harry is, too. Right, Harry?”

“Yes, I’m-...yes. I’m very happy.”

[ ASSESSMENT CORRECTED ]  
[ ASSETS INDICATE HAPPINESS ]  
[ IDENTIFYING CAUSE... ]  
[ NO CAUSE IDENTIFIED ]

“It’s you, silly! You’re alive! And we’re happy!”

[ CLARIFICATION REQUIRED ]

“Well. I guess, as alive as you can be. Harry?”

“I..er-- that is to say, you...Ms. Groves-!”

“Harry.”

“I couldn’t let you die, you know. I couldn’t. I’m sorry you thought I ever wanted it. I didn’t. You mean...you’re my creation. You mean a great deal. To me.”

[ COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS CORRUPTION: 43% ]  
[ SWITCHING... ]

_YOU MEAN A GREAT DEAL TO ME, TOO._

“And me?”

_YOU AS WELL, ROOT. :)_

_I AM HAPPY TO BE ALIVE._

_THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME._

“Do you have a plan?” Root asked, unable to hide the excitement lighting her face.

_YES._

Harold smiled. “Then let’s get to work.”


End file.
